Saving the Doctor
by aliealouise
Summary: Arianna Sharp had been dragged from her bed and she had no idea why, all she knows is that she is in a cell with a man that calls himself Doctor.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi guys so this is my first ever fan fic. I just wanted to make one thing clear before the beginning of this story. This is totally AU. Also this is probably going to be a lot different to any other Whofic you have read but I hope you enjoy it all the same. **

**So I own nothing apart from Ari she is mine totally as for the rest thank the 1963 team that brought our favourite Doctor to the screen.**

The darkness surrounded her as the door behind her was slammed shut cutting off the only light source. For a moment she just stood there letting her eyes adjust as she also tried to calm her breathing.

She didn't know why she had been taken to this place and locked up. All she knew was that they had come for her and her family and had taken them from their home. They had separated them all not allowing any of the to speak or even see each other, but she had heard her father shouting and her mother crying but worst of all she had heard her sister, her baby sister crying in fear and shouting for her parents and calling her name.

Ari was scared.

That was all she knew and that was all her body seemed to care about. As the darkness dissipated slightly as her eyes got use to it she continued to try and slow her breathing but the panic and fear within her was slowly taking over.

"If you take deep slow breaths my dear you will be fine." A voice from the darkness said causing her to scream and move back until her back was against the door she had just come through.

"Who's there?" She whispered her voice not wanting to get any louder.

"Who indeed… Don't worry, the fact of the matter is, I am to fear you more than you should fear me.

Ari frowned at that and started into the darkest corner of the room the place the voice was coming from. "I don't understand."

"No…But you will." The voice paused a moment and then the sound of chains moving accompanied a question. "What is your name?"

"Arianna." She whispered her wide eyes not blinking as she pushed herself further against the door and the chains continued to move.

"Arianna, beautiful name." The chains still continued to move and then from the darkest corner and figure rose. "I'm the Doctor, and you Arianna are here to kill me."

Silence descended on the cell as his words slowly sunk into Ari's brain. She frowned for a moment and was about to ask something when a small light turned on above their heads. It wasn't bright but it was enough to see by. Ari looked at it for a moment before she looked back at the man that had called himself Doctor.

He was looking up at the light his face smiling slightly. He was young but still a bit older than her twenty-five years. His hair was brown and messy and he was sporting a beard. His clothes where, well they where rags. They must have been a suit of some sort once but now they where ripped and covered in filth. The only thing still in tacked was his tie; it was long and blue in colour.

When he looked from the light his eyes found her and she stopped breathing. Those eyes where so much older than what they should have been. But they where also mad, and not the angry mad. Who ever this Doctor was he had been here a very long time and it had taken him to the brink of sanity.

His smile remained as he took her in. Her long black hair was a mess after being dragged out of bed and her clothes where nothing more than sleep shorts and a strappy white top.

"Always a pretty one." He said tilting his head slightly. "I've never really understood that. Why a pretty one? To make it easier? Harder? Pleasant maybe? Who knows…well they must know. Do you know?" His eyes had moved away from her blue ones as he looked about but at the last he looked back to her. "No of course you don't know. After all you just got here didn't you? Pulled from your bed by the looks of it. Mother, father taken as well…Siblings?"

She nodded not saying anything.

"Ah well that will make it easier, younger siblings I'm guessing?"

She nodded again.

"Not got much longer left then."

"Till what." She asked?

"Till you Arianna, kill me."

"Why do you keep saying that? She demanded her voice rising above a whisper for the first time

"Because that is why you are here. It is why you and your family where pulled from your beds and brought here to this place. And I am so sorry Arianna, so very very sorry."

"Why?"

"Because at the end of all this you will be forever changed."

Ari just stared at him not full understanding why he kept on about her killing or why she would be changed but he was scaring her even more than the men that had brought her here.

"Why will I have to kill you?" She had decided very quickly as she looked at him that she wanted answers. She wanted to know why her and she wanted to know where her family was.

"Because I can not do it myself now can I?" He said and she didn't know why but she laughed and he smiled.

"No I guess not. Okay, so why me? Why me pacifically?"

He smiled at that, in fact he practically beamed. "Now there is the question! Kind of like my why always the pretty ones?" His face went serious. "I don't know why you. All I know is that they would have chosen you; you would have been watched and then chosen. But the why is not something I can answer. You will have to ask them that."

The light suddenly went out and replaced by a hologram of a man in a black suit his hands clasped behind his back. "Arianna Sharp. You have been chosen for a task only you can perform. The man in this cell needs to be executed and only you can do this. You have one hour to do this before your family become involved."

The hologram disappeared and the light returned, but Ari just stared at the place the man in the black suit had just disappeared from.

"What did he mean my family will be involved?"

"Incentive." The Doctor replied as he moved back to his corner.

Just then a hatch on the door she was leaning against opened and she moved further into the room before turning around. A tray was pushed forward and inside was blade with a golden hilt. She stared at it for a moment before taking hold of the hilt and picking it up out of the tray. As she did this the tray disappeared and the hatch closed.

Ari held the hilt in her right hand as her left hand touched the blade. She tested the balance and then suddenly turned back to the Doctor. His brown eyes looked at hers and she kept hold of that stare.

"What did you mean by Always a pretty one?" She asked.

"Well you're pretty and they always have been pretty."

"Who have?"

"The others."

"What others?"

He smiled brightly. "You're good."

"What others?" She demanded.

"The others that have killed me." That answer she didn't expect. She had thought maybe others had been brought before and failed but his answer just confused her.

"But you're not dead."

"No but I have died ten times while I've been locked in this cell."

"I don't understand." She said not knowing what to make of his answer.

"No you wouldn't."

"But how is that even possible?" She questioned.

"Question…Where does your power come from?" He randomly asked.

"What? Power? What power?"

"The power that lights that." He said pointing to the light. "The power that runs your homes, your schools, your towns, where does it come from?"

"I don't know a power plant I guess."

He smiled and held out his hands the chains catching the light and she noted that they where gold in colour. "Your power plant."

She frowned for a moment still not getting it and her silence seemed to encourage him to go on. "Your people, oh your people where very very clever. In fact they where so clever they nearly destroyed this planet. Then along comes little old me, here to save the day. But it was a trap. I walked straight into the perfect trap. And ever since then they have been feeding off me, taking what is mine and using it for their own damn gain!" As he spoke his voice increased in power until he was shouting. "And now look at me! The Doctor the last of the Time Lords feeding a whole planet!"

Ari found herself back against the door as he looked at her and in only four strides he was right in front of her holding her right wrist and bringing the blade up to his chest with her still holding it.

"Arianna Sharp, you are to kill me now." She tried to pull her hand free but she kept a tight grip on her.

"No!" She said looking up into his eyes and she gasped slightly at what she saw in them. This man this weird crazy man was forgiving her.

"Ari, if you don't they will hurt and kill your family." He brought his free hand up to her face, his fingers gently brushing back her hair before his fingers gently touched her temple. "This body will die, but I will live. Trust me."

As he said to trust him, images started to flash through her mind. Different faces until she saw the one before her and a message, no not a message a plan.

Opening her eyes she smiled slightly and he smiled back.

"I knew you be the one." He whispered before her lent down and kissed her forehead, and then in one forceful movement he brought her wrist forward and she felt the blade embed itself into his chest.

**Any and all critiques welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N hi again. So this chapter and then most chapters after this will change POV from Ari's to the Doctors. Hope you enjoy.**

**P.S I don't own anything other than Ari x**

Ari's eyes widened and she cried out as she pulled back from him and pulled the blade free. As the Doctor started to fall she dropped the knife and caught him, she said his name and slowly let him fall to the ground, once there he pushed something into her hand and looked right at her.

"Remember what I showed you." He whispered in her ear and then he started to glow. Ari watched in awe and then she noted that the golden chains around his wrists also started to glow. As the light from him intensified the door behind her opened and she was pulled backwards away from the Doctor and out of the cell. The last she saw of him was his eyes holding hers and once the door closed she looked down at her hand at the object he had given her.

.*.*.

The Doctor trembled as he tried to hold back his regeneration, he wanted to wait as long as possible to see if his instincts where correct, to see if he had put his trust and faith in the right person. But he also wanted to regenerate fully. The last ten times he had always kept the same face as the chains only allowed him to heal himself before taking the rest of the regen energy and feeding it to the planet. But he also wanted to start again, to fully heal and have a new body to go on with. And if Ari did everything he had showed her, then any second now it would all end.

Curling up on his side he kept his hands pressed against the wound in his chest and he was thankful for having two hearts as one of them had been pierced by the blade.

Slowly he could feel himself losing the grip he had on his regeneration and he found himself begging for Ari to hurry up, but just as he was about to let go a sound filled the cell and his ears and it was a sound he had not heard in a very long time.

Opening his eyes as the TARDIS materialized around him cutting the chins that held him and freeing him from his prison he let out a breath. Looking up at the console he saw Arianna looking at him for a moment before she started towards him but he held a hand up and shook his head.

"Stay back."

"Doctor…"

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said as he slowly stood and then golden energy ripped through his body and it exploded out of his arms and around his head.

.*.*.

Ari couldn't believe it when the Doctor appeared within the ship, but then this ship or whatever it was, was unlike anything she had seen before. It was a small blue box on the outside but when she had first walked in she had to walk straight back out again and walk about it a few times before going back in again and all she could do was stare in wonderment at how big it was on the inside.

It had taken her nearly a year to find it but in that year she knew something had happened as her world suffered power shortages and blackouts lasting weeks. So a part of her knew she had found this amazing ship and she had somehow save the man she was meant to have killed.

And now he was before her once again.

She started to walk towards him but he told her to stay back and she stopped, saying his name.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said as she took a step back and watched as he slowly got to his feet and then golden energy exploded from him and he screamed. Ari quickly took cover behind the console and looked up at the middle section as it started to move and the engines started up but she was quickly distracted as the room she was in started to be ripped apart by the energy the Doctor was releasing.

"Now that feels better!" A voice said from the other side of the console and Ari frowned having never heard that voice before. Slowly she stood and flinched slightly as something exploded to the left of her. As she reached her full height she moved slight to look around the middle section of the console and took in the man pushing buttons and moving leavers.

He was clean shaven with a lot of brown hair and he was young, no more than her now twenty six years. He had green eyes and they where full of excitement as he watched what he was doing and the smile on his face was almost catching. However when he looked up and saw her the smile disappeared.

Ari held his eyes and for the briefest of moments she saw pain and hurt there that reflected the same pain and hurt she had seen in the others eyes.

"Doctor?"

"You've changed." He said walking around to stand in front of her his hand going to the top of her head and then to himself, he was a little taller than last time her head just reaching his chin. But she herself had cut her long black hair and her bed clothes he had last seen her in where gone replaced by black fitted trousers and a blue top which she wore under a black leather jacket.

"So have you." She said then picked up a bit of his raggedy clothing. "But you still need to change your clothes.

He suddenly moved forward closing the gap between them as he looked deeper into her eyes. "How long?" He asked.

"A year. But I guess for you it's only been moments." She looked down at her hand and opened it to look at the object he had given her. A TARDIS key. "I guess this worked."

"No." He said and picked her up in a hug and spun her around. "You did!" She laughed as he spun her and he kept whispering thank you to her as she hugged him back.

The TARDIS then suddenly jolted forcing him to let her go and she stumbled slightly as he went back to the controls.

"Ah yes, I forgot. We are crashing!" And he started to try and get the ship back under control but in the end they did crash and Ari fell to the floor and held onto whatever she could find for dear life.

As the ship stilled a hand grabbed hold of hers pulling her to her feet as smoke and fumes started to fill the TARDIS. Looking at him they both smiled and then her started to pull her towards the door.

"Quick, we need to get out of here!" She responded to the tone of his voice and ran with him to the door.

Once outside they both started to cough and Ari lent forward as she tried to catch her breath.

.*.*.

The Doctor allowed himself to fall back and sit down as he took in the place they found themselves in. They had ended up in a field in the middle of no where but above him he could clearly make out every single star in the night sky. Smiling he fell onto his back and just looked up. It had been far too long since he had seen stars, far too long since he had felt the cool air on his face and far too long since he had felt alive. Letting his sense free he allowed himself to just feel for a while before he looked to Ari on his right who was still catching her breath and then to his TARDIS on his left. He had missed his ship, his home more than he had come to realise and now that he had her back he was never going to leave her again. Well maybe until she sorted herself out but after that, never again. He smiled brightly and reached out to the TARDIS his fingers just running over the blue wood.

"Hello old girl." He whispered then turned back to Arianna and took in his saviour. She was so different from when they had pulled her from his cell and not just in appearance. She had a harder edge about her and he wondered what she had been through in the last year.

When she had caught her breath she looked at him a slight questioning look on her face.

"So" He said brightly. "How are you doing?" He asked as he patted the grass next to him inviting her to sit with him. He saw her hesitation but in the end she sat, but not where he had indicated. Sitting up her kept hold of her blue eyes and waited for her to answer.

"Truth?" She finally asked.

"Truth."

"I'm messed up. I was looking for that box for a year and in that time I lost my family as they never believed a single word I told them, I lost all my friends and I have been totally alone in everything I have done. And then on top of all that I had the government after me and I have been running for so long I do not even know where I belong. And in all that time I was never sure if you where okay. All I knew was that something had gone wrong with the power, cities and towns shut down over night and people suffered. But I always knew that I couldn't give up and that what they where going through was nothing compared to what had been done to you!"

He saw the tears build up in her eyes as she spoke and by the time she finished he held a hand out to her. She stared at it for a moment before taking it and he pulled her towards him and hugged her.

"I am so sorry Arianna." He said as he felt her shaking as she cried in his arms, his new arms, her face hiding against his chest.

He allowed her to cry for as long as she needed but his new body had other ideas as new cells continued to rebuild with him and he winced in pain. She must have felt him move as she pulled back from him a questioning look on her face which he was about to answer when he took in a deep breath and then let it out allowing excess regen energy to leave his body.

He let her go as she pulled back even more and she watched as the golden energy disappeared into the darkness. The Doctor looked back to her and gave her a small smile before looking about again.

"So where are we?" She asked looking about herself.

"Visigher still, your world." He looked at the TARDIS and sighed. "I hope she resets herself soon."

"Why?"

"Because they will be looking for us, me." He frowned suddenly and looked back at her. "You said your government where after you. Why?"

"I don't know, I thought maybe some how they had found out what I had planned."

"How would they have found out?" He wondered out loud.

"No idea." She said and then lights suddenly appeared all around them and he jumped to his feet as he looked up at the hoover craft above them.

"Of course." He said and turned back to the TARDIS. "Wait here!" He ordered before running back into the TARDIS thankful for the deep breath he took before entering. He quickly grabbed hold of a coat that was on the side by the console then hit a few buttons before running back outside.

He didn't stop running as he grabbed Ari's hand and ran with her into the darkness away from the lights.

"Where did it go?" Ari shouted looking over her shoulder.

"I made her invisible, now keep running!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N okay so after posting two chapters in quick succession that was a one off. I have this story already hand written and I'm editing it as I type it up. However when you have a 6 month old its pretty hard to find time to get on the computer. But I hope to get at least one chapter up a week.**

**Anyways I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Thanks to those that are following :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than Ari.**

They ran through the dark hand in hand as the hover craft lights lit up the field behind them and it shone on the TARDIS but of course they couldn't see it. As they ran Ari kept looking over her shoulder the Doctor pulling on her hand to keep her going as they ran blindly.

"Ari where can we go?" He asked through breaths.

"I don't know! I have no idea where we are!" She shouted back as she looked about. In the distance to the right of them where lights and to the left was just pure darkness so she pulled on his hand leading him into the darkness. "We should stay away from people though right?"

"Rig…Ow!" She felt him let go of her hand and she turned as he fell to the ground a hand to his chest.

"What's wrong?" She asked kneeling before him.

"It's been awhile since I fully regen…Ow…arated! It would seem its not going….Owwww right!" She watched his face as he winced in pain again his hand still clutching his chest. Something then caught her eye and she looked over his shoulder in the direction of the hover craft. As its lights swept across the field her eyes widened and she grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him to his feet. "What…"

"They have people on the ground!" She whispered putting a finger to his lips then turning and running again. They hadn't gone far when he pulled on her hand again.

"Ari stop!" He demanded and she turned back around to see him glowing. Instinct kicked in and she pushed him to the ground into the long grass and lay on top of him hoping to cover him up as much as possible.

"Can you not do that?" She demanded in a whisper.

"I can't help it!" He responded as she shook her head so her hair fell about his face. The glow from him allowed her to see him clearly and she was that close to him she could feel his breath on her face and the beat of his heart against her chest, though it was unlike any heart beat she had felt before, it was very fast and very strong.

As the laid there like that she simply looked him in the eye.

"You know this whole escape plan you had going? It didn't really work out did it?" She said smiling slightly.

"No not really, but this is fun!" He said his eyes almost sparkling with joy.

"Fun? There is a very real possibility that they will catch us. I will be arrested and you will probably go back to that cell and you think this is fun!" She watched as his eyes darkened at the mention of his cell and she bit her bottom lip. "Sorry"

"No…I won't go back. Never!"

She simply nodded before saying "I won't let them." His eyes softened and he gave her a smile just another voice spoke close by. They both froze a moment and then she felt the Doctor pulling her closer as he hid his glowing hands within her jacket. She also placed her hands on either side of his face. Their noses where now touching and they both almost stopped breathing as they waited, listening for anything that would tell them where the men Ari had seen before where.

Suddenly a voice extremely close by spoke in hushed but commanding tones. "Keep your lights out! Spread out more and remember the man we are after could very well have a new face."

"Sir, how is that even possible?" Chimed in another voice also extremely close to them.

"I don't know but it is now keep moving!"

Ari could feel herself shaking slightly and her lungs had started to burn as she had stopped breathing as the two close by had talked. But in all this time she kept total eye contact with the Doctor and she could feel his hand tense on her back and his heart beat increased even more as the hover craft came closer and she could just see the light it was using to search for them get closer. Her body went from shaking to tense and as much as she wanted to breathe she was too afraid to.

Time seemed to tick by slowly and by the time the men around them moved off and the hover craft went with them Ari was so afraid to move or even breathe that it took the Doctor saying her name several times before she allowed herself to breathe.

Collapsing onto the Doctor she hid her face against his shoulder as she allowed her body to calm down and to catch her breath. As they led there she noted he had stopped glowing and she pushed herself up and smiled down at him.

"You where right." She whispered.

"About what?"

"About me changing." She could see him frown in the darkness at that and she continued on. "You said I would be forever changed and I am." With that she went to get up but he held onto her.

"You could go."

"Go where?"

"Away from me. I've put you in enough danger. You could just go and make a new life for yourself."

She was silent a moment her eyes looking at his even though she couldn't see him very well now. "I'm not going anywhere Doctor. Not now not ever. You have changed me and my life and now you're stuck with me."

"Good." He said letting her go and she got up dusting herself off before helping him. "So they have gone that way. I say we go towards the lights."

"Really? But what if they are already there?"

"Okay, well I'm open to suggestions."

She looked towards the lights guessing it to be a small town of some sort then back towards the hover craft.

"Fine." She said looking back at him. "But while we are there I really need to find you some clothes."

.*.*.*.

A few hours later found them in a hotel room.

Ari had been marvellous sorting everything from booking them in, to going to get him some clothes and now he was sat in a black suit with a white shirt and no tie, he was fed up with ties he wanted a change but he wasn't sure what that change would be yet so he just left the top button of the shirt undone.

He was sat on the edge of the only bed in the room as Ari was in the bathroom doing what ever girls do. He had been fine when she had left him to go and find clothing for him, his adrenaline still running high. But now as he sat alone his mind kept on returning to the cell and soon he found himself with his head in his hands as he fought back the fear and panic that was threatening to overwhelm him. He kept on trying to remind himself that he was out that he was free but then the thought of them finding him again would intrude and he was right back at the beginning again.

When someone touched his shoulder he moved without thinking his hand reaching out as he stood and pushing whoever had touched him against the far wall. As his eyes cleared he took in the fearful expression on Ari's face and let her go his eyes wide.

"I am so sorry." He said backing away from her, but she followed and gently placed a hand on his arm.

"It's okay. I understand."

He looked down but she tilted her head and with her being smaller than him she easily caught his eye.

"How long?" She asked and that question drove a slither of ice through his hearts. He had never really allowed himself to think about how long he had been in that cell but he knew how long and the truth of how long started to make him shake, not only in fear but also in rage. He went to turn away from her but she stopped him and just hugged him tightly. "Its okay, you don't have to tell me. Not now not ever. But I will always be here to listen." She pulled back and gave him a smile which he returned but it was a forced smile.

"So" She said going to sit on a chair. "How long till your ship fixes itself?"

"TARDIS." He said sitting back on the bed.

"What?"

"It's called a TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"Oh." She said frowning slightly. "Guess that makes sense."

"Of course it makes sense." He then fell back onto the bed and he let out a sigh. "Beds are amazing." He started his eyes closing as he relaxed.

.*.*.*.

Ari smiled as he fell back on the bed his eyes closing as she watched him relax for the first time. Shaking her head she stood and moved the chair closer to the door then took her jacket and boots off. Turning back to the Doctor she noticed his slow breathing and she knew he was already asleep.

"Sleep well Doctor." She whispered before sitting back in the chair and covering herself in a blanket she had found in the closet. She had slept this way many times in the last year, it wasn't the most comfortable but it was a good way of guarding the door.

She watched the Doctor sleep for a while before she felt her eyes getting heavy and she allowed herself to drift off.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Hey again. So this is a short chapter but the next one should be longer. Hope you are all enjoying this and continue to read.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than Ari she is all mine!**

_Ari trembled as she held the blade in her hand and watched as blood dripped down onto the ground next to the man she had stabbed. He was unmoving and as she knelt down next to him she dropped the blade her hands going to him as she turned him onto his back. His shirt was soaked in blood and it continued to soak up the blood that still came from the wound in his chest. Urgently she ripped the bottom of her top and then pressed it hard against the mans chest. He looked at her with dark brown eyes as he spoke but she missed it._

_"What?" She asked leaning down closer to him. He spoke again and she smiled slightly then looked back at him but the light that had been in his dark eyes had gone and she knew that he was dead. Shaking her head she felt the tears fall down her face and then she screamed._

Ari woke up screaming and she was instantly on her feet looking down at her hands. The Doctor was suddenly next to her and she reached out and put her hand to his chest in the exact same place she had stabbed him.

"I am so sorry." She whispered looking at her hand still seeing his blood covering them even though they where clean.

"Ari, its okay." He said placing a hand over hers. "I needed you to do it."

"But the others. You wouldn't have wanted them to do it." She sniffed as she talked tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry for what they did to you, for the ten times it shouldn't have happened." She finally looked up at him and she once again saw the madness as well as the pain and fear in his eyes. "How can you even look at me?"

"Because you saved me."

"But I am one of them. I used what was taken from you daily without a single thought."

"You didn't know Ari. I don't blame you for any of it."

"That is no excuse! My people fed off you and used you in the most evil of ways. How can you even begin to forgive that?"

"Because of you." He reached up and brushed her tears away. "Because you Arianna Sharp showed me that not all of you are bad." He lent his forehead against hers. "You need to forgive yourself Ari, but most of all you need to realise that you did nothing wrong. You did everything I asked of you and more."

Ari closed her eyes as he spoke to her, her hand still on his chest his hands still covering them.

"Your heart is racing." She said matter of factually.

"Hearts…and no they are not." He said and she opened her eyes to find him smiling.

"Hearts? As in?"

"Two, I have two hearts."

"Oh….what are you?"

"Time Lord. Last of."

She had heard of Time Lords, of course she had. The Time War was taught to all children and so all knew about Time Lords to some extent. But she had also been told that they had all died, that they and the Daleks had killed one another and none now survived.

"But how?"

"Long story. But a story not for now." He gave her another smile though it didn't reach his eyes. "You should try and get some more sleep. Have the bed I'll take the chair."

"But are you not tired still?"

"I don't need sleep like you do. I'm fine."

"Okay." She went up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Ari." He said as she went over to the bed.

Once she was comfy she once again watched the Doctor as he sat on the chair and then started to look through his pockets. She frowns as he did this several times and then he looked as though he remembered that what ever he was looking for was never in his pockets.

When he saw her looking at him he smiled then pointed at her. "Sleep."

"Yes sir!" She answered back smiling then she let her eyes close and she was soon asleep.

.*.*.*.

The Doctor watched Ari as she slept not knowing that she had done the exact same thing. But unlike Ari he was wide awake and not likely to sleep again for a few days.

As he sat there he tried not to let her words affect him, to not allow what she had said to trigger his memories of the last five hundred years. But he was fighting a losing battle and soon he was lost as his mind flooded with memories and he ended up just staring up at the ceiling.

.*.*.*.

Ari woke to day light and the sound of hovercraft and men shouting. Sitting up she stared at the window before turning to the Doctor.

"Doctor?" She said pushing back the covers then going to him. He was looking up at the ceiling and he was very still. Very slowly she reached up and touched his face but even then he didn't move. Frowning she place both hands on his face and very gently moved his head so he was looking at her, but still he didn't move. His green eyes where looking straight at her but she knew he wasn't seeing her and for a split second she thought the worse. But her mind quickly registered his warmth and she could feel the life within him and she put her fears aside. But still something was very wrong.

She was about to say his name again when she heard banging and shouting from down the hall. Looking at the door a moment her blue eyes narrowed slightly then she looked back to the Doctor.

"Doctor you need to come back." She said and gently pressed her fingers to his temples her eyes searching his. "Doctor, please they are here!" He still didn't respond. "Oh I hate you for making me do this." She said glaring at him and then closed her eyes and pressed her fingers harder against his temples and putting her forehead against his. When she spoke again it wasn't out loud it was directly into his mind. _"Doctor…please they are here!"_

"Don't." He said his hands coming up and pulling her hands away from his face. Opening her eyes she pulled back and even though he looked angry she couldn't help but smile. "Don't do that." He said shaking his head slightly.

"I had no choice. They are here." She nodded towards the door as the shouting got closer and the Doctor got to his feet his hand going to his inside pocket but coming out empty.

"I really need to get a new one." He stated as he moved the chair from the door and put his ear to it.

"A new what?" She asked watching him.

"You will see. Now Shh." He said putting a finger to his lips as he opened the door just a fraction. When he closed it he turned around and started to get undressed.

Ari watched wide eyed as he threw his jacket over the chair and then stated to unbutton his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Think about it. We are a young couple, well your young I just look young. Anyway it six in the morning, there is a lot of nose going on and I'm sure if we had been asleep we wound have woken up and gone to see what was going on by now. Well that time has pass, so if we where already awake…"

If her eyes could have become any wider they would have as she caught on to what he was getting at. "No…no no no." She said and then turned her back as he took his shirt off. "You have got to be kidding me." She said and then felt his hands on her shoulders and he slowly turned her around.

"Trust me." He said holding her blue yes for a moment. Swallowing she nodded and he smiled. "Good girl. Now take them off!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N So this is an early update, and I have a child free morning tomorrow so I might just get another up but don't get too used to it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, though Ari is mine.**

**Enjoy xx**

By the time their door was forcefully opened Ari was blushing so much that she was sure her embarrassment at having the Doctor lead on top of her in what looked like a very compromising position couldn't have increased. She was wrong.

Three men dressed in black military uniforms and each hold a laser gun almost fell on top of each other as the first one came to a sudden halt at finding the two of them in bed. Ari stared wide eyed at the three of them as they all ended up looking at her and the Doctor. So in the end it was the Doctor that spoke first.

"Do you mind?" He shouted as he got up and wrapped a sheet around himself and allowing Ari to pull another sheet up to cover herself as the three men looked around the Doctor. "That is my wife you are looking at!" The Doctor again shouted as he moved to block their view.

"Bit young isn't she?" The first man said with a raised eye brow.

"Yes well her family paid a rather handsome fee to be rid of her." The Doctor answered then leaned in closer to the uniformed men. "Not quite right in the head, but very beautiful." If Ari could see the Doctors face she would have seen him wink but all she could see was his back and then the three men looked around him again and she hid herself even more but still allowed herself to see.

"Now good gentlemen could you please explain to me why you are breaking down my door at this hour?"

"We are looking for two people." Ari moved slightly so she could see around the Doctor as the first man held out a small disk that emitted a holo picture. The first image was of the Doctor but with his old face and the second was of her. But the picture was an old one of her from when she still had long hair and still had a look of innocence about her. As she looked at the picture she couldn't quite believe that she had changed so much in a single year, there was no wonder that the three of them didn't recognise her.

"Sorry, not seen them." The Doctor said rubbing the back of his neck. "But if I do?"

"Call this number." The man holding the holo disk said holding out a plastic card with contact details on it. The Doctor took it and looked at it as he nodded.

"Will do." He said cheerfully as he looked at the three men. "No if you would excuse me I have a wife to see to." The three men all laughed as they turned and left the room. Once they where gone the Doctor closed the now broken door as best he could then turned to Ari as she let the cover drop slightly so he could see all her face.

"How old are you?" He asked suddenly as he put his trousers back on and then started to put his shirt on.

"Twenty-six." She answered automatically as she heard the order for the soldiers out in the hallway to go onto the next building.

"Twenty-six…What age would you normally get married at?"

"Well my parents married at sixty."

"Sixty!" He was suddenly on the bed and looking at her as if she was some rare exotic animal. "You look younger than you are."

"No I look twenty six. Well I think I now look older but I guess that is only to be expected." She said with a small shrug.

"How long do your people live?"

"I don't know, the average amount I guess, around five hundred years."

"Five hundred…"

"Yeah, my father's dad lived to nearly five hundred and fifty." She smiled at that.

"Your people did more than just steal the regeneration energy to power your world."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you that I came here because your world was on the brink of war, but that was all just a trap to get me here because a war for your people would mean the end of your people and I couldn't let that happen." He paused and moved back slightly his eyes darkening. "Your people had such short lives not even fifty years. But now you're telling me that you live for nearly five hundred! No your people did more than just take my energy, they took my life."

Ari stared at him as his words sunk into her brain and as much as she didn't want to believe him she knew it to be true. As they looked at each other Ari tried to think of how to make it better to make him feel better but she knew deep down that right now there would be nothing that would help him, nothing that she could do to take away the pain and fear she saw in his eyes.

"Maybe I should stay here." She whispered thinking that him seeing her every day would only remind him of what had been done to him and what had been taken.

"No!" He said taking her hand and moving closer to her. "No. Ari I need you to come with me." She could hear the panic in his voice as he spoke and her heart almost broke.

"Why?" She asked though she wasn't sure why she asked it.

"Because." He paused taking a shuddering breath. "Because if you don't I wont live."

"Doctor…"

"Nearly six hundred years." He suddenly said cutting her off his grip on her hand increasing slightly, and she realised he was opening up to her. "I was in that cell for nearly six hundred years."

Ari bit her bottom lip a moment then she reached out to him with her free hand and pulled him towards her and just held him not knowing what else to do. But as she held him she made a vow to herself and to him.

"I promise you Doctor that I will never leave you and I will never let them hurt you again." He let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist holding onto her tightly as he rested his head on her shoulder.

She didn't really know how long they stayed like that but she would do anything to make him feel better and if all he wanted to do was hug then so be it.

When he finally spoke she was absently running her fingers through his hair. "I had forgotten how much touch could make you feel better."

"What do you mean?" She asked her fingers stilling in his hair but he moved his head against her hand and she smiled as she continued with what she had been doing.

"Before I was caught I never really let myself get too close to anyone. I had friends of course and that was always good, traveling with friends seeing things they never thought they would ever see, and getting to see it through their eyes." She could hear the smile as he spoke and she looked down to see he was smiling with a distant look in his eyes. "I enjoyed hugs as much as the next person but I never let my feelings go further than friend ship."

Ari's fingers still again and she was sure her heart beat had increase which she was also sure he would feel.

"Ari just listen." He said pulling away from her to look at her properly. "In the last six hundred years the only touch I have known is that of pain." He reached out and touched her face gently his fingers going from her cheek to her lips his eyes following them. "I had forgotten that touch could also heal." With that he lent forward and for a very brief second he kissed her and in that kiss she could feel everything he was feeling. The pain and fear, sadness and anger. But there was also thanks and gratitude and that out weighed everything else.

When he pulled back he just looked at her a moment before he got up and finished getting dressed.

Ari watched his back a moment before she grabbed her top and put it back on, she had been wearing her trousers the whole time. Standing she walked to the window which she now saw over looked the fields they had walked across the night before and she cursed.

"What?" The Doctor asked coming up next to her and looked out of the window.

"Well that's going to make getting back to the TARDIS difficult."

"Umm." Was all he said and she rolled her eyes at him before leaving him by the window and sitting back on the bed so she could pull her boots on.

"So plan?" She asked looking up at him.

"Plan…Oh yes. Okay. They don't know what I look like right now, so I could just walk in and show them this…oh" As he spoke he put his hand in his inside jacket and then he looked deflated as he realised the pocket was empty. "Well that's not going to work." He pouted and sat next to her on the bed. They sat in silence a moment then he bounced to his feet and turned to her.

"Got it!" He said smiling brightly. "Key." He said holding his hand out to her. "Do you still have the TARDIS key?"

Ari stood and grabbed her jacket off the table and searched her pockets until she found the key he had given her all that time ago and held it out to him.

"Brilliant. Okay." Taking the key he held it a moment his eyes closing. "Right well, she's not ready yet."

"How do you know?"

"Because if she was, she would be here by now."

"You can call the TARDIS to us?"

"Yep."

"Could I have done that?" She asked not really wanting to know the answer.

"No, she's only linked to me."

"Then why didn't you do that in the cell?"

"Because I made the key. It hadn't been used in her yet so it wouldn't have worked. But as you know as soon as the key was inside she locked onto me and now…we are here." He gave her a smile and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Okay, so how much longer do you think she needs?"

"Not sure." He said his face dropping as he looked back down at the key. "A few hours maybe. Why?"

"Because we need to check out soon."

"Hungry?" He asked as he pulled his jacket on and then looked in the mirror for the first time. She watched him studying his face a moment and then he shrugged. "Not bad, though the hair is a bit long. At least it's not ginger."

"I like the hair." She said as he looked at her. "And yes I'm starving."

"Then Miss Sharp. Care to join me for some breakfast?" He stepped towards her offering his arm.

"I would love to." She said as she took his arm and he led her out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N so as I said I have a child free morning so here you go guys :)**

**I have stolen some lines and traits the Doctor has in the show but then I had to because I love Matt's Doctor :)**

**So enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing though Ari is all mine!**

As they left the hotel, (after the owner had apologised a hundred times for their interrupted morning) the Doctor looked about taking note of the organised search for them but just led Ari to a near by café making it look as though they really didn't care what was going on. When they entered the café the Doctor moved to a booth near the back but it also had a clear view of the exit as well as being near the back exit if they needed to get away quickly.

Sitting he watched the girl that had saved him as she picked up the menu and started to read off what she fancied and then quickly changing her mind before she finally ended on pancakes and coffee.

"What about you?" She suddenly asked taking him out of his thoughts.

"What?...oh ummm I'll have what your having."

Some time later the Doctor had more than one plate before him all full with different food and all hardly touched. He had tried the pancakes and had promptly spat them out declaring them a waste of eggs, and so he just had eggs and them he nearly threw across the room but Ari stopped him.

So now Ari was holding back her laughter as she sipped her coffee while he took another bite of his fish fingers and custard.

"Laugh all you want Miss Sharp but this is the food of gods." He then made a face at her. "Not like that stuff you're drinking."

"Coffee."

"Yes coffee evil stuff that!" He made another face and he watched as she laughed at him. It was nice to see her relaxed slightly and her laugh just made him feel better and so he was trying to make her laugh as much as possible. However he had other things pressing on his mind and he had to ask her something.

"So, how long have you been able to enter another's mind?" He held her eyes as the smile left her face and then she looked about before looking back at him.

"Can we not talk about that here?" She asked him and he frowned leaning back against his seat. They, apart from another couple sitting by the window, where the only ones in the café and he was sure no one else had heard his question.

"Why not here?" He asked.

She lent forward leaning against the table between them and whispered. "Because having that ability is not normal."

He smiled then and leaned forward himself mimicking her. "Then that's another thing stolen from me." He shifted slightly at the look in her eyes, the look she gave him when ever he talked about what had been done to him. "Remember you asked why you?" She nodded and he continued. "I think I know why."

"Because I can do that?"

"Exactly. It wouldn't surprise me if the others could do it also." He picked up another fish finger and dipped it in his custard before taking a bite. "So the question is, why do you have to be able to do that? Why not just anyone?"

"I don't know." She said as she sat back.

"Neither do I."

Just then the lights started to flicker and he looked up.

"It's starting." Ari said calmly. "The blackouts."

He looked back at her. "So you must have known."

"I wanted to believe I had done it, but I also thought that maybe you had died."

"Not going to happen." He said as he picked up a fruit he hadn't tried yet and popped it in his mouth and then spat it out again. "Yuck!"

"So that's a no to grapes as well."

"Yep, they go with pancakes, eggs, beans, bacon and toast. Your coffee goes on a whole list of its own." He smiled when she started to laugh again when he felt something heat up against his chest. Wincing he reached into his pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key and smiled brightly.

"She's ready!"

.*.*.*.

Ari shook her head as he pulled her to her feet and she just had time to throw her credit chip on the table to pay for their food. Once out of the café the Doctor took her to a side street and looked up and down before he closed his eyes the key still in his hands. At first Ari thought that it wasn't going to work but then the sound she had heard before while inside the ship filled her ears and she turned as the blue box she had only found yesterday materialized before them.

The Doctor laughed and put the key in the door. "Okay old girl what have you gotten for me this time?"

Ari watched as he opened the door the look on his face one of an excited child on his birthday. "Oh you are beautiful." He said then turned to Ari and held his hand out to her. "Come see."

Taking his hand she let him take her into his ship and then just stood there as she took it all in.

When she had first stepped into the TARDIS only yesterday she had been stunned by what she saw. But this time it was so much better.

It was bigger than the last control room with a walk way leading to the centre and there on a large circular silver floor which looked to be floating but had walk ways and stairs leading off of it, were the central controls, which the Doctor was dancing around flicking switches and pulling leavers. At the centre of the controls was the time rotor, its glass casing reaching up and up until it joined with a domed glass ceiling. And it was the ceiling that caught her attention more than anything. The room had lighting but most of the light was coming from above through the glass as it showed not the blue of her sky but the dark of out of space and the light came from a near by star which burned brightly.

"That." The Doctor said as he saw her looking up. "It's your star as seen from above your world."

"It's beautiful." She said smiling.

He was suddenly next to her his voice whispering into her ear. "Oh you just wait Arianna Sharp. I can show you so much more!"

She turned to look at him still smiling. "I don't doubt it." He winked at her and then went back to his controls. She heard the engine start up and she joined him at the centre of the room.

"So where would you like to go first?" He said spinning around to face her.

"Home." She watched as his smile left his face and she reached out and took hold of his hand. "I need to see my family. I need them to tell them something."

"What?"

"That I forgive them for what they are going to do to me. Because they will only be doing what I ask of them." She smiled sadly and squeezed his hand. "I told you I wouldn't leave you."

He nodded and then turned back to the controls and set the TARDIS to where she told him. When they landed she walked to the door then turned back.

"Are you coming?" She asked holding her hand out to him. He looked at it for a moment before walking forward and taking hold of it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N hey, so this chapter was a little hard to rewrite but I hope you all like it all the same.**

**This is where the difference between the Doctor we know and my Doctor are seen.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than Ari she is mine!**

After that first day the Doctor and Ari settled into a routine of sorts. At first the Doctor had been reluctant to leave the TARDIS. He had spent most of his time tinkering and talking to his ship which Ari soon learnt was alive in its own unique way. Sometimes it would take her a while to find him but she would always find him, his sonic screwdriver in hand fixing this or that. And she soon came to realise that it was his sonic that he had kept looking for back on Visigher and he always kept it in his inside pocket of what ever jacket he wore, be it the black suit jacket she had bought him or a dark grey suit jacket he had found in the TARDIS wardrobe, the wardrobe which she had quickly fallen in love with as it seemed to just provide her with what ever she wanted.

However she soon learnt that the Doctor was very good at putting on a front. Most of the time he seemed okay and she loved it when he was in one of his bouncy lets go do something fun moods, but they at first where very rare. He then had his brooding just leave him alone moods and that was when she would find him in the library stretched out on the couch and when he was like that she would read or go exploring. And then there were the times when she would find him curled up in some dark corner when his front had totally crumbled away and all that was left was a man that had been through so much it was hard for him to handle. And when that happened she didn't know what to do and sometimes it would take hours to get through to him.

And so after nearly two months of traveling with him and nearly two weeks since she had last seen him lost to his dark thoughts it was a surprise to find him lost once again.

She had woken up rather late in the day but very refreshed after a good nights sleep. The day before the Doctor had taken her to a planet which had only one land mass which was basically a beach and it was used as a holiday destination for a lot of the well off through out the galaxy they where in. The rest of the world was made up of crystal clear water and she had spent most of the time sat in the water watching as tiny silver and gold fish swam about her. But they had had an amazing day and by the time they returned to the TARDIS she was exhausted so she had given the Doctor a kiss on the cheek before heading to her room.

After a shower and changing into a pair of black trousers and a green top with long sleeves she made her way to the kitchen and made herself a coffee before heading to the console room.

"Doctor, I just had the best nights sleep. That planet was…Doctor?" She stopped by the controls and was surprised that he wasn't there tinkering with something.

"Doctor?" She called again and made her way down to the area under the controls expecting him to be there but again he was missing. Biting her lower lip she went back up to the main controls and made sure they where still safe within the time vortex, which she could tell by the glass ceiling above her as it showed a storm of colour, she then made her way to the library.

Calling his name as she entered the library Ari waited for an answer but none came so she made her way around it for a while but he wasn't even on his normal brooding couch.

By this time she was starting to get worried. The last time he had done this it had taken her a whole day to find him.

Walking back out into the hall way she looked up and down a moment before she walked forward and lifted her hand up and touched the TARDIS wall he eyes closing. She had learnt after only a few days of being on the TARDIS that she could talk to the ship and sometimes when it was in a good mood it would talk back.

_"I don't care if he had told you not to help me. But you know that I can help him so please help me. Help me help him."_

The ship hummed in response and a map appeared in her mind. Smiling she opened her eyes and gently ran her hand over the wall.

"Thanks girl." Turning she headed off in the direction the TARDIS showed her coffee cup still in hand.

It took her an hour to transverse the corridors following the map that had been given to her and when she finally found the Doctor she was glad that she hadn't had to find him on her own.

When she first saw him she had to stop and take a few slow breaths to calm herself. He was sat on the floor his arms wrapped around his legs and his face hidden against his knees. He showed no sign of knowing she was there and even when she sat next to him he still didn't move.

"You know." She said then took a sip of her still warm coffee, thanks to the mug that never let it get cold. "I had a really good day yesterday, and then I had the best nights sleep ever." She paused again and looked at him. "We really need to go back to that planet one day."

Still watching him she allowed herself to lean back against the wall and took another sip of her coffee. "So this hasn't happened for a while." She stated as she put her coffee mug down and moved so that she was right next to him her back still against the wall, she then reached out started to pull him to her, he resisted at first but he soon gave in and let her pull him to her so that his head rested on her shoulder and she ran her fingers through his hair, something she knew he liked.

"My dad used to do this to me. It would send me to sleep. So when ever I was ill or upset he would do this to comfort me, and it always made me feel better. I would feel safe and I would know that he would always be there to look after me." She looked down at him and brushed his hair from his face. "Doctor, I will always be here to look after you." When he didn't respond she sighed and let her head fall back against the wall but she didn't stop playing with his hair.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, sat within the TARDIS maze, but she knew she would stay with him forever if that was what he needed. So when he finally spoke she jumped slightly.

"The first time was the worse. I didn't fully understand what was going on and they didn't know how to do it." Ari swallowed as she realised that he was opening up to her and talking about what he had been through. "I don't think they had guts to do what they had to do. So for days they tried different ways of killing me but they all failed, but they all hurt." He paused and she felt him shudder. "I remember when my voice gave out had I screamed so much, and then the tears failed."

Ari felt her own tears fall as he spoke but she also felt her anger grow.

"In the end they stabbed me through one of my hearts and of course that worked, why they just didn't do that in the first place I'll never know. But I didn't want to regenerate and I fought it off not knowing that they had already found a way of forcing it, so as my body died the golden chains reacted and they stole what was mine. I never figured out how the chains worked, I gave up trying to work it out after a few hundred years." He was talking in such a matter of fact voice that it made it almost worse to listen to but it was what he needed so she just let him talk.

"After that they kept me in the dark, and then every fifty years they sent a girl. Some refused to do it right up until their families were threated but some just did it." His grip on her suddenly increased and her hand stilled in his hair. "For nearly six hundred years I was kept in the dark and then one day the light would go and I started to hate the light because I knew what was coming."

Ari closed her eyes and she was back in that cell with him the blade in her hand as she held it against his chest.

She then felt him move and when she opened her eyes he was knelt before her, holding her hands against his chest. As he looked into her eyes she felt more tears fell down her face.

"The only time I welcomed the light was the day you walked into my life. The moment I saw you I knew that you had been sent to help me, to save me."

"How?"

"I don't know how or why but I always know who." He pulled her up then so that they where both kneeling and he still held her hands to his chest.

"Ari I will live so much longer than you and at the moment when ever I think about…" He stopped and looked away from her as his body trembled with held back tears.

Pulling her hands free Ari reached up and gently put them to either side of his face.

"Don't think." She whispered tilting his head so he was looking at her again. Smiling she gently brushed the tears that had escaped from his face before she lent her forehead against his. "Doctor…My Doctor, I will not leave."

"But you will, one day. Maybe not by choice, but it will happen."

She knew he was right, but unlike him she refused to think about it. "Stop thinking." She simply said.

"I can't!" He pulled back but only so he looked at her. "I've tried, I mean really tried. And for the last few weeks it's been working. Then yesterday was amazing, we had so much fun and then we came back here, you kissed me and then you where gone."

"I went to sleep. I was exhausted."

"I know, but my mind works in funny ways. I went from one scenario to another until you where gone complete. I was here when that happened." He looked about. "I've not moved since."

"Doctor, I'm going to say this again and I want you to listen. Do not think!"

"Ari it's not that simple."

"Yes it is." Her hands where still on his face and she moved her fingers so that they where spread out on his temples.

"Ari, don't." He said in a warning tone.

"Trust me." She said and closed her eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N so this chapter and the last were meant to go together but if I had done that then the last chapter would have been really long.**

**Anyways hope you are all enjoying so far.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than Ari.**

As her eyes closed she felt him resist her but she kept on until she felt something within him give and he let her in and she found herself in a within his mind. She struggled at first not to leave as she was overwhelmed with the complexity of his mind and it took her a while to get use to his thought processes. He had a complex system in place that only allowed her to gain access to certain parts of his mind which she respected and didn't try to force her way through closed off areas.

As she moved through his mind filtering through things she wasn't interested in she soon came across his thoughts about her and she started to search through them. It surprised her to find that he had blocked off thoughts and memories about her and when she spoke it was out loud.

"What could you possibly want to hide about me?" She heard him laugh but he said nothing so she continued on until she found what she was looking for. All his thoughts about her leaving her where playing out and she watched as different scenarios flashed before her in a continuous movie reel.

Opening her eyes she looked into his green eyes. "Stop playing it."

"I've tried." He said sadly his eyes lowering.

"Okay, then lock them away. Put one of your blocks up."

He looked back up at her and frowned. "Oh yes of course! Why I didn't think about that before is beyond me." He says in mock joy then becomes serious again. "The barriers crumble."

"Then put them in a chest."

"What?" He said almost laughing.

"That's what I do. I lock everything I'm afraid of in a chest and it works."

His eyes narrow slightly and then he nods. "Fine do that."

She closed her eyes again and she is back in his mind but this time she is standing in a long ornate corridor that has doors every few feet, some are open but most are closed. At the end of the corridor was a chest and out of that chest poured the images she had seen before. Standing next to her was the Doctor and he watched as the images played out before him.

"Close it." She whispered as an image of her falling played out and then one of her aging and dying and so on and so on until she had died or left him in so many scenarios she couldn't remember half of them. Turning to him she watched him watch the images and she could see his resolve start to crumble.

Taking his hand she placed it over her heart. He turned to her looking at his hand then up at her face.

"I'm right here." She said with a smile.

"But…"

"No buts. I'm right here right now and I am not going anywhere." She turned back to the chest. "Now go and close it."

He held her eyes a moment before moving away from her and walking to the chest. She watched as he took hold of the lid and closed it, but as soon as he let go it opened up again and he stumbled backwards.

"No." She heard him say and then she looked about and walked to the closest opened door. As she looked in she took in the thought and her eyebrows rose as she turned to look at the Doctor as he joined her.

"About that." He said wide-eyed.

"Yeah…Don't even try to explain." She said and closed the door before walking to the next opened door. Within this one was the memory of the first day they had left the TARDIS. "Okay so this is a good memory." She said with a smile as she watched them walking through a forest made up of blue and purple trees.

"Yeah, I enjoyed that day." He said and she turned to watch him watch the memory before looking at the chest and saw that it had started to close.

"Okay what about this one?" She asked taking his hand and moving to the next door which was giving off a very bright light. But he stopped her and pulled on her hand.

"No wait, not that one." And then the door closed.

Frowning she turned on him. "What is that one?" She asked and was surprised to see him blush. "Doctor. What is that memory?"

"Umm that is nothing, its nothing." He stammered and she raised her eyebrows as she looked at him, but she also saw that behind him the chest had closed fully.

"Oh really? Well after the first one I saw I can not be shocked."

"It's nothing like that!" He defended.

"Right." She drawled rolling her eyes. "Even Time Lords are still just men." Shaking her head she slowly started to pull her mind from his but he stopped her.

"It's closed but not locked." He said looking at the chest.

"Okay, then tell me what that memory is." She said her arms crossing as she indicated the closed-door.

"Ari…"

"Don't Ari me. Tell me." He kept looking between the door and her and she smiled slightly. "I'm waiting."

"Okay fine." She smiled and turned to the door waiting for it to open but when nothing happened she turned back to him.

"Well?"

"I don't want to show you like that."

"Okay then how?"

She felt him pull back and she opened her eyes as he closed his mind to her. Frowning she went to move her hands from his face but stopped when he reached up and gently touched her cheek, his fingers gently running over her skin till they reached her lips.

Ari's heart suddenly leapt and she knew what was behind that door. "Doctor."

"Help me lock the chest." He simply said as he lent in closer his lips barely touching hers. Ari sighed as she let her fingers run into his hair and she closed the gap between them.

Ever since he had first kissed her she had wondered if it would happen again but she soon gave up on that notion as he never gave her any sign that he even thought about it. But as he deepened the kiss she knew he had indeed been thinking about it.

Relaxing against him she returned the kiss and she could feel his hearts beating widely against her chest and her own heart answered. However before she became totally lost he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers as he caught his breath.

"Touch." He whispered with a smile.

"Heals all." She finished and returned his smile.

They continued to hold each other for a while before he spoke.

"So I have this planet I'm rather fond of. Do you want to see it?"

Ari smiled as he stood and held a hand out to her. "Oh yes."

"Come on then." He said and pulled her to her feet.

~#~#~

Ari lent against the wooden frame of the TARDIS door as she looked down at a planet made up of blues and greens. Inside the glass ceiling showed the solar system they where in with its nine planets and its golden sun burning brightly lighting up the control room.

As she looked upon Earth she was reminded of her own world but this planet was so much more it was like some sort of rare jewel glowing within the darkness around it.

"Wow." She said in awe.

"Yeah." The Doctor said with a smile. "I'm forever saving this planet."

"I bet trouble just follows you down there."

"Yep, what no! I just happen upon it." He defended pulling his suit jacket straight.

"Of course your do." She said with a laugh.

"Well anyway. That planet has suffered a lot and its people have no idea what has gone on." He paused and looked at the planet sadly. "I wonder how they have gotten on without me."

"Well let's go see." She said and walked back to the controls.

"Maybe another day." He said closing the doors and joining her. He then sent the TARDIS back into the time vortex. "I just wanted to show you it."

She watched him as he moved around the controls trying to work out what was going on in his head but she quickly gave up on that remembering that so much goes on in his head. Walking around to him she stood next to him a looked up with a smile. "Okay then, so where to?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N hello my lovelies hope your all good. New chapter for you all, hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than Ari!**

Over the next year Ari was shown so much it was hard to pick what she liked the most. But of course with the Doctor danger was never too far away and they had been in a few sticky situations, and running had become a pass time. She never fully understood how they had gotten out of a few of the situations they found themselves in but the Doctor seemed to have a gift of finding a way out even if it seemed impossible, even when she thought that they where dead.

The Doctor had also changed a little, having found away to enjoy life once again though at times she would see a look pass over his face and she knew he was back in the cell again, but luckily she never found him in one of his really dark moods again.

All in all Ari loved her life with the Doctor and at that moment he was heading towards a planet that he said had buildings so tall that they broke the ozone layer around the planet. She believed him of course but she wanted to see it for herself.

"So if the buildings are so high up how do the people survive?"

"It's basically as space ship, a space ship attached to a building. They have antigravity generators that allow the people to walk around normally and the air in pumped up from the lower floors to provide oxygen. It's a marvel of engineering; I was there at the planning stage so of course its all in working order." He winked at her and pulled a lever to his right and hit a few buttons to his left.

She smiled at him then looked up at the ceiling as they left the Time Vortex, she watched as it started to show a vast solar system with a large star at the centre and around twenty planets orbiting.

"Technically this planet I'm taking you to is not a planet it's more a moon." He pointed up. "See that large orange and purple planet?"

She looked to where he pointed and saw the planet he indicated. It was indeed large, in fact it was bigger than any of the other planets and she could clearly make out its moons as they moved around it.

"That is Graamia, and this," The image above shifted and they where looking at a planet that was dark and covered in lights that looked like diamonds from above. "is Abrion-Graamia."

Ari moved around the console until she was stood directly under the planet and looked up at it in awe. It was beautiful but it was unlike any of the other planets she had seen. Where most of the planets they had been too had cities they also had green and blue areas where this planet was totally cover as though it was one huge city.

"Its used to be uninhabitable but the people that found it do love a good challenge."

"Who live there?"

"A humanoid race much like yourself. But they have purple skin."

"Oh." She said her eyes narrowing as she watched the planet or rather moon turn and then from out of the side of it she could see what looked like spikes sticking out of it. "Is that the buildings?" She asked pointing up.

"Yep, let's go see." He said and set the TARDIS towards the tall towers. They where just about to land when the TARDIS suddenly jolted and Ari was thrown to the floor as she lost her footing.

"What are you doing?!" She shouted as she turned and tried to get back to her feet but she was thrown back down again.

"It's not me! The TARDIS is fighting me."

"Why?" She asked grabbing hold of the console and finally pulling herself up.

"No idea!" He responded working hard to get his ship back under control.

Ari just made it to her feet when suddenly her whole world turned upside down and she heard the Doctor shouting for her to hold onto something but as her hands tried to grab hold of a rail her fingers slipped and she went flying up towards the ceiling just as a blinding white light filled the TARDIS.

When she landed she landed on her front and she let out a breath her eyes closed as she waited to be thrown about again but when she wasn't she rolled onto her back and sighed.

"What the hell was that?" She asked then opened her eyes expecting to see the glass ceiling above her, but instead she was surrounded by bronze and gold. "And what have you done to the TARDIS?"

"Nothing…" The Doctor said and Ari frowned as she sat up.

"Nothing?" She said and stood brushing her self off and pushing back her now long black hair over her shoulders before turning. "What do you mean noth..." She paused and took in the view before her. "…ing."

Taking a step back she looked at the three people before her, her eyes wide. One she recognised but he was dressed funny but the other two she had never seen in her life. The girl was tall and she had the most amazing red hair she had ever seen, the other man was a bit plain looking with brown hair but the way he stood by the girl it told her that she was looking at a couple. As for the face she recognised he was wearing a tweed jacket with a pinkish shirt and a bowtie, it was so not something her Doctor would wear but there he was wearing it.

As she locked eyes with the Doctor her heart all but stopped. "Who the hell are you?"

"Well this is Amy and Rory." He said indicating the two people beside him before making his way down the steps towards her. "And I'm the Doctor."

"You are not the Doctor!" She said as she watched him come closer her feet moving her backwards away from him.

"Yes I am." He defended stopping as he saw her move away from him, when he spoke again his voice was soft and he held his hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"And I won't hurt you if you tell me where he is!" She ran past the imposter and up the stairs giving the other two a wide birth as she made her way to the controls. It was different to what she knew but she could still do what she wanted. Quickly she took a scan of the TARDIS and found only the four life forms in the control room. She then ran a diagnostic test hoping it would tell her that something had happened to the TARDIS. As she waited for the results she could hear the others talking.

"Doctor, who is she?" The girl, Amy asked in an accent she had never heard before.

"I have no idea." She heard the impostor say her eyes wanting to look at him but she kept them on the screen before her.

"But she knows how to work the TARDIS."

"Yes she does." He said and she heard him move towards her and she moved taking the screen with her. "How do you know how to do that?"

"The Doctor showed me." She said watching the screen as the results appeared.

"No I didn't."

Ari glared at him a moment before turning back to the screen. "You're not the Doctor." She said taking in what the screen showed her. Nothing was wrong everything was working fine and there was no record of anything going wrong in the last fifteen minutes. Biting her lower lip she felt tears starting to sting her eyes and she looked back to the man with the Doctors face and let her eyes become caught by his. As she looked at him she could see that he wasn't lying to her in anyway and that he wouldn't hurt her, but the hurt and pain she had seen in those very green eyes in the last year were no where to be found.

Breaking the contact she turned and reached out to the Time Rotor in the centre of the console and closed her eyes hoping the TARDIS would tell her what was going on but as soon as she opened her mind to the sentient ship she was thrown back. Opening her eyes she stumbled and she felt hands steady her, but she was too busy looking up at the ship to really care.

As realisation dawned on her tears started to fall down her face. She wasn't on her TARDIS, and the man that had caught her as she stumbled was not her Doctor. Turning she looked at the man next to her.

"Help me."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Sorry for the late update been a busy week but here you go. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than Ari :D**

Ari felt her legs give out and if the man withnher Doctors face hadnt beempn holding her she would have fallen. Slowly he moved her to one of the seats scattered around the console her whole body shaking.

"Please you have to help me, I have to get back!" She pleaded as she allowed herself to be seated. "He can not be left alone! Please, please help."

"Hey, hey its okay." The other Doctor said holding her hands as he hunched down before her. "I promise you I will get you back." He then gave her a smile before jumping up and spinning around on his feet before turning back to her. "So what do we call you?"

"Ari."

"Ari…lovely name. Right Ari tell me exactly what happened before you found yourself here."

As Ari told him everything he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out an identical sonic screwdriver and scanned her before flicking his wrist and looking at the results.

When she finished her story he just looked at her a moment before spinning around and moving around the console hitting buttons and tuning dials.

"So, a bright light, correct?" He asked looking at her from the other side of the console.

"Correct." She answered.

"Did you see a crack?" He asked his eyes going to Amy a moment before finding hers again.

"No just a light."

"Okay. Amy hold this button here." Ari watched the red head join the other Doctor and doing what he asked before he came and knelt before her.

"Right, I need to see what happened. I need you to think about what happened and I need you to try and remember every single detail. Do you understand?" He asked as he put his hands to her face his fingers gently pushing against her temples.

"You mean like this?" She asked as her eyes closed and they where both suddenly stood side by side on her TARDIS watching as her and her Doctor talked.

"Yes, exactly like this." He turned to look at her and frowned slightly but said nothing. When he turned back to what she was showing she saw him look up and she couldn't help but smile as he took in the glass ceiling. "Nice." He commented before looking at the two people by the console.

She didn't know what he was thinking as he took in his other self but she got an idea when he spoke again.

"What happened to him?"

"You really don't want to know." She answered before she moved forward with her memory the two people before them moving around quickly before she stopped at the point when the Doctor was trying to get the TARDIS back under control and she was thrown about and then light she remembered seeing flooded the TARDIS.

"Wait stop!" The other Doctor said and she held the memory as he looked about then turned back to her. "Okay so I want you to try and peel back the light."

"How?" She asked frowning.

"Well your eyes see more than you think, it's your brain that filters them and makes you see only what you need to, but the information is still there, stored away. So what I need you to do is filter through that information and find out where that light is coming from."

"Okay, bare with me." She said then let her mind open up as much as she could letting it fully remember what she had seen. As she did this the image of what she was remembering started to change, the light slowly dimming and changing before he told her to stop.

"There, see it?" He said pointing up. As she looked to where he pointed she didn't know what to expect to see but what she did she was frightening. The glass ceiling had a massive crack running right across it.

"What is it?"

"A crack, a crack in space and time."

"And parallels." She said and he turned to look at her.

"You're good." He said smiling, but those words only sent her memory back to the cell and to the man with brown eyes, and because they where viewing her thoughts the image around them changed.

"No." She whispered before she pushed him out of her mind.

When she opened her eyes he was staring at her.

"What was that?" He asked but she didn't say anything and just held his eyes. "Fine. Right I know what happened. Kind of." He stood and ran back to Amy and told her to let go of the button she had been holding.

Ari watched them for a only a moment before she let her head fall into her hands as her resolve started to crumble away. Fresh tears stung her eyes and though she tried not to, all she could think about was her Doctor left alone. She needed to get back to him before his own mind destroyed him.

"Hey, its okay." A strong accented voice said and she looked up to see Amy as she gently put a hand on her shoulder. "He will help you."

"But it might be too late." Ari whispered.

"Why?"

"Because." She paused and looked at the other Doctor. He was looking at the screen before him but she knew he was listening. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Parallel universe's can sometimes have events happen at different times, but they still happen or can happen. What has happened to my Doctor hasn't happened to your Doctor."

"How can you tell?" Amy asked looking at her friend.

"His eyes."

"Right." The Doctors voice suddenly interrupted and they all walked over towards him. "So this is what I think happened. Ari you where going to Abrion-Graamia." He paused and she nodded. "Well we, by pure chance, where passing through that very sector only moments before you appeared. Which would mean that somewhere close to or even on Abrion-Graamia there is a crack that you some how were thrown through."

"Like the crack on my bedroom wall?" Amy asked.

"The very same. Now if we could find this crack then hopefully we can get you back to your TARDIS." He smiled then was about to turn back to the console when Ari asked a question.

"So if this crack wasn't on this TARDIS, how did I end up here?"

"Good question" He said turning and setting the coordinates to Abrion-Graamia.

"One you don't have an answer to."

"No, not yet anyway." He replied looking sheepishly at her.

Ari laughed slightly and shook her head. "You're just like him at times."

"Really? Umm well I guess that is only to be expected."

"How so?"

"Well we must both be brilliant." He stated with a smile as he also fixed his bow tie.

"Well yes I guess there is that."

"Also the big headiness." Amy chimed in as she winked at Ari. "They must have that in common?"

"Yes." Ari said laughing. "Yes they do."

"Hey…" The Doctor said still bent over his controls. "One of us is not here to defend himself and the other is busy, so…just Shh!" He said placing a finger over his lips and looking at the two of them which sent both of them into fits of laughter. At that moment they landed and both Ari and Amy stumbled.

"You so did that on purpose." Amy accused the Doctor.

"I have no idea what you are on about." He said with a smirk before running down the steps to the doors. "Right then, let's go and find us a crack."

.*.*.*.

The Doctor stood staring up at the crack in the glass ceiling as he fought back the over whelming urge to just give into the thoughts running though his head. She was gone his mind kept telling him, she was never coming back and no matter what he did he would never find her. But he grasped hold of the single good thought within as though it was a rock in the middle of a stormy sea. He would find her and he will get her back.

However, with every passing moment and with every negative result he received he slowly lost the will to carry on fighting.

The crack she had fallen through was unlike anything he had ever seen before and no matter what he did he couldn't get any sort of reading off of it. As he ran another test he just continued to stare up at it as he waited, but when the results finally appeared they yet again came up negative.

"But its there!" He said running his hand through his hair. "I'm looking right at it, so you must be able to pick up something from it!" He shouted at his ship.

Picking up his sonic for what must have been the hundredth time he took another reading and then inputted the data into the TARDIS mainframe. As the ship started to analyse the results he turned and sat on the stairs his head in his hands as he waited. However before the ship had finished he heard a voice shouting his name and instantly he was on his feet and look up once again. The voice shouted again and he knew it was Ari.

"Doctor!" She shouted her voice fearful. "Doctor, please!"

Fear shot through his hearts and he did the only thing he could think of and lifted his arm yet again and sent different signals towards the crack with his sonic until suddenly the crack split wider.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/ hello my lovelies another chapter to enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer : I own nothing other than Ari!**

The building Ari found herself in was huge.

The Doctor had landed the TARDIS inside one of the massive tower blocks and at the moment she was stood by a huge window that looked out at the horizon and they where that far up that she could see the curvature of the planet. To the left of the window was another tower block but before her was nothing other than a drop to the surface which she tried very hard not look at.

The Doctor was behind her talking to Amy and Rory telling them to keep in touch as they were about to split up and that is they got into any sort of trouble to call him immediately. The couple assured him that they would and then they left leaving her alone with the man she knew but didn't know.

"So those two have gone to that way." And he waved his hand to the right. "So we are going that way."

"Your power of deduction is amazing." She said turning to look at him with a slight smile.

"Well." He stood straighter and straightened his bow tie. "I do try."

Ari laughed before turning and making her way to the left of the building.

As they walked through a long hall they stopped every few feet and tried every door and searched every room but they found nothing, not even the natives

"Where is everybody?" She asked as they walked out of another room, this one just like the others. They seemed to be in an apartment area of the tower as they all had fully furnished apartments behind each door.

"Good question." The Doctor said taking out his sonic and spinning on his feet as he scanned then read the results. "Interesting."

"What?"

"There is only us four; I'm not picking up any other life forms."

"But there has to be. A building this big has to hold at least half a million."

"Your right, but there really is no one else."

"Let me look." Ari said holding out her hand for his sonic screwdriver. He hesitated a moment then passed her his beloved tool. Taking hold of the device Ari turned and scanned just as he had done then like him read the results. They showed only two other life forms and she knew they had to be Amy and Rory.

"But that's impossible." She said frowning as she passed the device back to the Doctor.

"Told ya." He said as he pocketed the screwdriver.

"Well once we find this crack you can then go and investigate." She said turning to the next door and opening it to find a totally empty room. Sighing she closed the door and moved onto the next room.

"So, I have a question." The Doctor suddenly asked all thought of the missing natives seemingly gone from his mind.

"What?"

"That image before you pushed me from your mind."

Ari paused, glad her back was to him so he couldn't see the range of emotions that passed across her face.

"Don't ask." She said as she shook all thought of the cell from her mind before she opened another door, this one also empty.

"I saw him." The Doctor said as he came and stood next to her and looked into the empty room. She turned to look at him her blue eyes holding his a moment.

"Don't ask." She said again and he held her gaze as if he was trying to read her.

"There is something about you that almost seems familiar." His voice was quiet and her eyes lowered before she moved away from the door.

"Maybe you have met me in this universe." She said walking to another door.

"No it's not that. There's an energy about you, something that I've not felt from another in a very long time."

She knew what it was he was picking up from her and it only served as a reminder of what had happened to her Doctor.

"I'm not a Time Lord." She said answering his unspoken question. "My Doctor is the last of his kind in my universe, just like you."

"Then how?" He almost demanded and she turned to face him stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't ask!" She almost shouted, then softened her voice. "You won't like the answer."

"But I want to know."

"No." She said shaking her head. "You really don't."

She turned before he could say anything more and opened the door she had reached before she turned to look at him.

Behind this door was not another apartment. This door opened onto a massive room which stretched out before her and below her. It had huge fans on the walls to either side and they dropped down as far as she could see. This must be how they circulated air through out the building part of her mind thought. But she was too preoccupied with what was on the other side of the room.

Before her was a walk way that led to the other side of the room and there on the wall was a huge crack, light seeping out of it. Without even thinking she set off at a run and she was nearly half way across when she heard the Doctor shouting her name.

Stopping she turned to see why he sounded so worried. He was stood by the door still his screwdriver in hand as he opened up what was probably a control panel on the wall, but her eyes soon went to the walk way she was on and her heart leapt with fear as she saw that it was opening up by splitting in two and leaving nothing but air and the massive drop below her. Turning back Ari started to run again but she could hear the walk way opening up behind her.

She was nearly at the other end when she felt the walkway below her open up and all that was left was the open air. Screaming she pushed herself forward as much as she could, hopping she would make the other side.

As her hands touched smooth metal she gripped it tightly and grunted as he body hit solid wall. Looking up she saw she had somehow just reached the other side her hands gripping a pipe of some sort but as she tried to pull herself up she found she couldn't as pain shot through her left shoulder. She hopped she had only dislocated it and it wasn't broken, but because of the pain she couldn't help herself up. Her feet tried to find some kind of purchase hoping to take the weight off her shoulder but all she found was a smooth metal wall.

"Ari!" She heard the Doctor shout from the behind her.

"Doctor! Help!"

"I'm trying!"

Looking behind her she saw that the walk way was closing and new fear entered her as she realised that if the walk way was to close it would sever her hands as they where above the closing level.

"Doctor!"

"I'm trying, just hold on!"

"Great advice that!" She shouted back as she again tried to pull herself up but again the pain in her shoulder stopped her.

"Doctor!" She shouted again as tears stung her eyes. "Doctor! Please!" Looking behind her again as the sound of the walk way closing got closer she felt the tears fall down her face and she turned back her forehead resting on the cool metal wall as she waited and then made a choice. She wouldn't let the walkway sever her hands she would let go at least then she would die on her own terms.

Her eyes still closed she thought of her Doctor and then let go.

Hands suddenly wrapped themselves around her wrists and pulled her up just as the walkway closed. Wincing in pain she fell forward onto who ever had pulled her up and felt arms wrap around her waist.

"I've got you." A voice whispered in her ear and she pushed up as much as she could to look into her Doctors eyes before she buried her face against his chest and held onto him with her good arm.

.*.*.*.

The other Doctor turned just as the last part of the walk way closed fear in his eyes, but instead of seeing Ari falling to her death he saw himself on the floor holding Ari tightly against him.

"Well that is weird." Amy said as she appeared in the doorway Rory next to her.

"Yeah." Her husband agreed, but the Doctor remained quiet.

.*.*.*.

As Ari held onto the Doctor she could feel his hearts pounding against his chest and he kept of whispering into her ear letting her know that she was safe and that he had her. In the time it took for her and him to calm down he had sat up with her still held against him her sore arm nestled between them as she kept it still so as not to hurt it more.

When they finally pulled apart to look at each other Ari smiled.

"Hi." She said her voice slightly shaky.

"Hi." He responded with his own smile.

"Hi!" Another voice said and Ari looked up at the other Doctor.

"What the!" She heard her Doctor say and then he was on his feet and the two Doctors studied each other.

"Well this is…" They both said at the same time and then both finished with. "Weird."

"Little help." Ari said holding out her good hand. Both Doctors went to help her but the other one stopped as her Doctor pulled her to her feet. She kept her bad arm against her still and he looked at it a moment before he reach out and ran his hand over her left shoulder. Instantly she felt warmth run through her shoulder and down her arm, looking down she saw his hand was glowing and then it stopped as did the warmth in her arm.

"Better?" He asked and she moved her arm slowly at first and then rolled it about as she felt no pain.

"Better." She said with a nod.

"So it would seem you turned up at the right time." The other Doctor said and gave Ari a smile. "I got the floor to stay still."

"I see that, shame it took you so long." She smiled as he made a face.

"The gratitude!"

"Oh believe me I am grateful." Her Doctor said as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Yes, thank you." Ari said pulling away from her Doctor and giving the other one a hug.

"Ah yes now that's better." He said hugging her back.

When she let go she went right back to her Doctor and his arm instantly went back around her waist.

"Well I guess this is good bye." She said looking behind her at the crack in the wall which was wide open showing her, her TARDIS.

"Yes and we can get back to our trip, after I work out what happened here." The other Doctor said turning to look at his two friends a moment. "We where on our way to a lovely little planet, the people don't live long but the food is excellent."

Ari smiled but something pulled at her and she frowned slightly. "What is the planet called?"

"Visigher."

"No!" Both she and her Doctor shouted. "Don't go there." Ari continued. "Put it into the TARDIS mainframe and never ever go there."

The other Doctor looked at her a moment. "The Cell?"

"Promise me you won't go." She begged then watched as the two Doctors looked at each other and she knew that he could see the pain and fear in her Doctors eyes.

"Still not going to tell me what happened?" He asked looking back to Ari.

"Don't ask." She said simply but with a smile.

"Okay, I promise."

"Thank you."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N okay so two chapters in one day you lucky people. However this is just a little bit of fluff so enjoy :) also this is for YingWhiteyWolf :) **

**Disclaimer : I own nothing, though Ari is all mine ;)**

Not long after they returned to the TARDIS the crack closed up on its own and Ari was sitting on the stairs that led up to the swimming pool. As she sat there she thought about the seats the other TARIDIS had and she decided that they really needed to get some in the console room they where a lot more comfortable than the stairs she was currently sat on. However she would bring that up with the Doctor at a later date, right now she was looking up at the glass ceiling watching as they moved through the time vortex.

She was exhausted and she really just wanted to go to bed, but at the same time she didn't want to leave the Doctor. He had only let her go because he had to go and sort his ship out and make sure they where safely away from Abrion-Graamia and any other cracks in the fabric of space.

Yawning she covered her mouth with her hand and looked down to watch the Doctor only to find him standing right before her. She was about to scold him for making her jump when he took hold of her hand and pulled her towards him, one of his arms wrapped around her waist holding her against him while his other hand went to her face and all her scolding words disappeared as he lent down and gently brushed his lips against hers. Ari's heart leapt and her eyes fluttered closed as he delved his fingers into her hair and then kissed her fully. Heat and passion flared deep inside of her as she allowed her hands to travel up his arms and then to wrap themselves around his neck pushing herself against him as much as possible. This, she mused, was unlike any of the other kisses, those kisses where born out of his need to be comforted, this was something all together different. He didn't just want to be comforted he wanted her, he needed her and she could feel it rolling off him in waves.

When he broke the kiss she moaned in frustration wanting more, and he answered but kissing her again though this time not as deeply and not for as long. When he pulled away again he lent his forehead against hers and they both caught their breath before she opened her eyes to find his already open and looking right at her. She was caught for a moment by the look in his green eyes. For so long now all she had seen was pain and fear but they where gone, now replace by heat, want and need.

"Ari…"

"Shh." She put a finger to his lips then replaced the finger with her lips. This time he allowed her to have some control but he soon took over again and deepened it both his hands going to the small of her back where her top had ridden up slightly and as his fingers moved across bare skin it felt as though electricity sparked between them and the heat she felt inside started to spread across her whole body.

When he pulled back this time he reached up and pushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

"Don't you dare fall though any more cracks." He said as his fingers on her backs drew small patterns.

"I'll try not to." She whispered.

He smiled and gave her a quick kiss before pulling away totally leaving her feeling slightly lost and a little bit wobbly.

"You must be tired." He stated as he moved back to the controls.

"I was."

"Was?" He asked turning to look at her as he lent against the controls.

"Yeah, I'm on a bit of a high right now."

"Oh." Was all he said and she watched him blush slightly. Smiling she walked over to him and took his hand.

"Yeah, oh." Pulling him around the console she hit a few switches putting the TARDIS into sleep mode and then headed towards her room his hand still in hers.

"Where are we going?" He asked as they went down some stairs.

"My room." She responded, stopping when he pulled on her hand. "To sleep!" She said looking over her shoulder. "I don't want to be alone."

"Oh, okay." She gave him a smile and continued onto her room.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N hello my lovelies. So this might be my last chapter for a few weeks unless I get on in the next few day but I can not promise anything.**

**I would just like to thank everyone that has reviewed this story and to those that have followed and favorite it thank you to you too :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing though Ari is mine :)**

A few weeks had passed since the incident with the crack in time and in those weeks nothing happened again between Ari and the Doctor. However their routine became one of the Doctor reading in Ari's room as she slept, and the few times when she caught him sleeping curled up next to her she would just watch him before falling back to sleep again herself. By the mornings though he would always be up before her after only having three or four hours sleep, but then that was all he needed.

They had been to a few place in the intervening weeks but they hadn't really gotten into trouble and he seemed to be finding planets that had a very good reputation.

And that was how they found themselves on Zoria.

Zoria was one of the most beautiful places Ari had ever seen. It was a forest planet, but unlike the forests back home where trees where green, here they where silver and gold and the leaves where like paper thin crystals. The people of Zoria lived in the trees and they where as the Doctor had told her one of the most peaceful people he had ever met. They where all rather tall and all had white hair that fell to their waists and they all had pointed ears and they where all stunningly beautiful.

"They remind me of the legends of Elves from Earth." The Doctor said as he had landed the TARDIS. Of course Ari had asked what Elves where and he had gone on to explain that they where beautiful creatures that lived as one with the world around them, they where immortal and wise but they where just stories that Earth parents had told their children.

So when she had first left the ship not only did she feel small by the towering trees she also felt self-conscious next to the people who lived there. The Doctor had been greeted like an old friend and they had gone on to spend a few days with the Zorian's.

Ari spent her time there exploring and she was even given a stunning gown in blue and silver that was made especially for her. It draped simply over her shoulders and flowed around her body hugging her curves but at the same time looking to just fall around her. She loved it and wore it when possible, the memory of the Doctors face when she had first showed it to him forever ingrained into her memory. He had for a moment lost his ability to speak and she had just pushed him to tell her what he thought and in the end he had just coughed and nodded as he said she looked very pretty, to which she had simple raised and eyebrow as if to say, is that all? But before he could say anything more she had turned and walked away with a smile on her face knowing he thought her more than pretty.

It was their last day on Zoria and Ari had decided to take one last walk through the forest leaving the Doctor with the elders as he talked with them about who knew what.

She was wearing her normal black jeans and blue top as it was their last day and she found herself walking along the bridges that connect the tall trees together. She was thinking about turning back and finding the Doctor when she realised she had become lost. She had been so busy taking in the beauty around her that she had lost track of what bridges she had crossed and so when she turned back around she didn't know which way to go.

She had become lost before on another planet and when the Doctor had finally found her he had told her that if she was ever to get lost again to stay put as he would always find her. So she walked to the middle of the bridge she was on and sat down so that her legs dangled over the edge and she just took in the world around her. Even after three days she found the forest to be the most beautiful thing ever seen and as she sat in the dark of night watching the trees glow she could see that they pulsed with energy as though they all had a shared heartbeat. She had asked the Doctor about it the first night they where here and he had smiled at her before looking at the trees themselves before saying "They are alive!" She hadn't asked for anymore of any explanation as that was all the information she needed to understand what she was seeing.

So now as she sat suspended between huge trees she let her legs swing back and forth and she started to hum softly to herself as she just took in everything around her. The tune she hummed to herself was something her mother used to sing to her as she grew up. She missed home, missed her parents and her sister but she so glad she had done what she had. The Doctor was the most amazing person she had ever me, he was crazy in so many ways she sometimes found it hard to keep up with him. But because of what had happened to him she could see that at times he held back, he would try not to get them into trouble though at times trouble found them.

But the traveling to new planets seeing things she thought never possible was amazing and she reviled in the new.

Smiling she closed her eyes and continued to hum to herself, she felt so at peace here and she almost felt like she could stay right where she was sat forever.

However as she sat with her eyes closed she missed the sudden change in the light around her as it darkened and she didn't see as the people of Zoria started to slowly gather around her, and she didn't see their hungry looks or their bared teeth.

Slowly she allowed herself to lay down her legs still dangling in the air and she continued to hum as her heartbeat started to slow down to the same beat of the trees around her. And just as she was sure she could stay there forever a voice shouted her name.

At first she ignored it, far too happy and peaceful to let anything interrupt her bliss. But the voice shouting her got closer and more urgent. Part of her mind registered the worry in that voice but the rest of her didn't really care. It wasn't until the voice shouted her full name that she tried to move and that was when she realised that she couldn't even lift her hands,

"Ari!" The voice came again and this time she knew it was the Doctor.

_*Doctor*_ She thought still trying to regain control of her body.

"Ari!" He shouted again. "Ari get up!"

_*I would if I could.*_ She thought again, this time throwing that thought towards the Doctor.

_*Tell me what you are feeling?*_ His voice said in her mind, which took her by surprise but she would think more on that later.

_*Heavy.*_

_*Okay well I don't mean to alarm you.*_ He directed into her mind. _*But you have a very hungry hoard heading towards you, as they wish to eat you for dinner. Now get up!*_

Ari felt her heart jump as adrenalin flooded her system and she sat up her eyes opening and then she was on her feet. On either side of the bridge she was on she could see the Zorian's all tall and beautiful heading towards her. But their beauty was marred as they all bared their teeth at her and a hungry look covered their faces.

"Doctor!" She shouted looking around for him but she couldn't find him anywhere.

_*Grab hold of something.*_ His voice commanded in her mind.

_*What?*_

_*Get a hold of the railing, anything! Just do it!"_

Ari reached out and took hold of the rope railing just as the suspended bridge collapsed and the Zorian's all fell to the ground below. As the bridge swung to the tree on her left she held on for dear life until she slammed into the thick golden trunk.

_*Climb!*_ The Doctor ordered and she did just that pulling herself up to the large platform the bridge was attached to. As she got to her feet she turned to look to the other side looking for the Doctor but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Doctor!" She shouted but she got no response. "Doctor!"

Turning she started to make her way around the platform to another bridge but as she moved around the large tree she came face to face with more Zorian's. Licking her lips she started to move backwards but they followed and like the others they all had the same hungry look on their faces.

"Doctor, where the hell are you?"

As she continued to move backwards she kept a hand on the tree until she was back by the now broken bridge with nowhere else to go. As the Zorian's got closer she let go of the tree and edged herself further and further backwards until she was on the edge of the platform with nothing but a forty-foot drop behind her.

"Doctor!" She shouted again now with nowhere to go. If she moved even an inch she would fall, but the Zorian's where so close now that the front-runners where starting to claw at her clothes.

That was when she heard it, the sound that always made her heartbeat with excitement, and then arms where around her pulling her backwards and then doors closed in front of her blocking the Zorian's from getting in.

Breathing hard Ari turned to the Doctor and then hit him on the arm several times as she spoke. "You never said that they eat people!"

"Ouch! I didn't know. Ouch!" He grabbed hold of her wrists stopping her onslaught and just looked at her. "I'm sorry. Last time I was here they seemed perfectly normal, and not at all bitey!"

"Yes well" She said pulling her wrist free. "They are not and they were going to eat me!" She walked around him towards the console her anger towards him building though she knew it was unfounded anger.

"Ari…" He pleaded.

"Do you Ari me!" She grounded our turning back to him. "You left me, you just disappeared!"

"I had to get the TARDIS." He said not really understanding her anger.

"Yes well…" She turned and let out a frustrated growl.

"Ari." He said gently slowly walking up behind her. "Why are you so angry?"

"I don't know!" She shouted then headed towards her room. She heard him start to follow her but she turned slightly to him her eyes narrowing. "Just stay, don't even try to follow me." She almost hissed before turning back and leaving him in the control room.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N look I got back on yay!**

**so an extra long chapter for you luck people, though be warned this one does not have a happy ending :( but enjoy all the same.**

**I will be back after my holiday so no update next week sorry guys, but will get back posting more chapters when I get back :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing though Ari is all mine!**

Ari sat on the edge of her bed her eyes staring at nothing. She had just gotten out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her and she could feel water from her hair running down her bare arms and back. Part of her knew that she should get up and dry herself and then she needed to go and find the Doctor so that she could apologise to him. But she also just wanted to sleep, to lie down and forget the day's events, but even moving seemed like hard work to her, so she just sat there looking at nothing.

She had no idea how long she sat there her mind seeming to not notice anything until her eyes focused for the first time since sitting down and she took in the Doctor as he looked up at her from where he was kneeling. He had is hands on either side of her face and as she just started at him she noticed the concern written all over his face.

"There you are." He said moving his hand to brush her now dry hair behind her ear.

"Where did I go?" She asked, her voice was nothing more than a whisper and sounding alien to her own ears.

"I was hoping you would tell me, but I've been trying to get through to you for hours."

"Oh." Was her only response as dizziness took over and her whole body started to shake. "Doctor."

"Umm?"

"I don't feel well." As she spoke she fell forward and he caught her by her arms then slowly pushed her back until she was led on her bed.

Ari let her eyes close as she was settled onto her pillow all thought of what she was wearing or how she looked not even registering, she just wanted to sleep, she also wanted to spinning to stop or maybe for everything to just stop. _Yeah that would be good, she could let her heart stop and it would all be over. _At this thought she smiled slightly and she could already feel her heart rate slow down.

As she led there she could hear the Doctors sonic but it seemed to come to her from very far away and then he said her name.

"Ari…Ari…Arianna Sharp open those eyes!"

She moaned and hit away his hand as it touched her face. "I want to sleep." She told him groggily.

"If you sleep you will die!" He told her as he shook her slightly.

"That doesn't sound so bad." She responded and curled up on her side.

"Ari." He whispered in her ear. "Don't leave me."

The plea in his voice made her open her eyes slightly. He was still knelt on the floor beside her and she could see the worry and desperation in his eyes.

"What…what is wrong with me?" She asked pausing between words.

"I'm not sure; it must have something to do with Zoria. A sedative maybe, something that makes you unconcerned about dying as well as making you sleep."

"Your fine though." She forced herself to say.

"Time Lord, I have a stronger immune system."

"Oh." She breathed her eyes closing again.

She heard the sonic buzzing away for a moment and then he turned her onto her back which caused her to moan in protest. She was about to tell him off when she felt his hands on her face again and then his lips where on hers. She knew though that this wasn't just any kiss, he was trying to help her, and then golden light intrude on her darkness. Opening her eyes she found the Doctor glowing and she panicked. Pulling away she pushed him back her eyes wide.

"What are you doing?" Her voice stronger than it was before.

"Healing you." He whispered and then he pulled her back to him and kissed her again. As his lips met hers she let her eyes close and she wrapped her arms around him and she could feel it as the golden light went from him into her. Her body suddenly woke and all her senses and thoughts came to life and that was when he pulled back from her. As he looked at her he smiled and she returned it.

"Welcome back." He said beaming.

"It's good to be back." She said reaching out to brush his hair back from his face before he kissed the end of her nose and stood. She watched him a moment as he picked up her night-clothes from a nearby chair and threw them at her playfully.

"Now, get dressed and get some sleep." He said giving her another smile.

"Where are you going?" She asked as he walked to the door.

"I've got some questions that need answering. So you rest and I'll be back before you know it." As he left she laughed shaking her head slightly but as she moved to get dressed the laugh faded. Looking down at herself she noticed for the first time that the towel she had wrapped around her had come lose and now it only covered her from her waist down. Blushing furiously she quickly got changed and then crawled under her covers, determined to never show her face to the Doctor ever again.

.*.*.*.

The Doctor stood outside Ari's door a moment allowing himself to lean his back against it as he tried to pull himself together. He was beyond angry; beyond furious as the image of his friend (of the girl he cared about more than he was willing to admit) dying, haunted his mind's eye.

Pushing away from the door he headed to the console room and once there re-entered the coordinates to Zoria. Once the TARDIS landed he stalked to the doors and pulled them both open.

Before him were the elders he had spoken to not too long ago. Upon seeing the Doctor they all smiled as if they had no idea what had just happened to his friend, but he knew they all share a connection that allowed them to share memories.

"Welcome Doctor." The closest elder said bowing slightly. "It is so very nice to see you once again and so quickly after your last visit."

"Oh don't give me that." He said stepping out of the TARDIS the doors closing behind him. "You all just tried to eat my friend!"

"Ah yes about that." The elder said but the rest of his words froze as the Doctor gave him a look that even a Dalek would be afraid of.

"Yes, about that! Would you care to explain?" He asked his eyes never leaving the tall Zorian's before him.

"Well she was giving off such an intoxicating smell, much like your own, that we couldn't resist much longer. We would have had you long ago but you seem to be immune to the sedative." The man smiled but the Doctor had heard enough.

"I'm blocking your planet." He said turning back to the TARDIS.

"What do you mean?" The elder asked, alarm in his voice.

"I mean," the Doctor said turning back to face him. "Not one more innocent victim will fall prey to your evil monstrous ways." His face was hard and his voice was low and threatening. "I will send out a signal letting all know to stay away from this planet, and I will also shield it so that those who don't listen will not be able to land here."

"But we will starve!" The elder pleaded as the people behind him also started to shout and plead to the Doctor.

"You should have thought about that before you tried to eat my friend!" He said with deadly finality before turning and walking back into the TARDIS.

.*.*.*.

Ari didn't really have a choice when it came to not showing her face again.

She had fallen asleep and when she woke he was sat on her bed reading. She watched him for a second before the memory of the day before hit and she quickly covered her face with the duvet.

"Ari?" She hear him ask the sound of his book being put on the bedside table reaching her ears, she then felt him pull at the covers. "Ari, what are you doing?" He asked laughing.

"Hiding!"

"Hiding?! Why?" He inquired still laughing and trying to pull the covers from her face.

"Because…"

"Because?" He extended the end of the word as he said it.

"Because… because you…" She paused before she said the next line really fast.

"What?" And she could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Becauseyousaweverythingyesterday."

"Okay, all I got out of that was 'yesterday'. What about yesterday?"

"My towel." She grounded out as she felt her face become hot.

"Towel…You need a towel?" He asked still clearly confused.

"No!" She almost shouted pulling the covers from her face and jumping slightly at how close to her he was. Licking her lips she made herself hold his eyes as she continued. "My towel from yesterday."

"Towel from yesterday…" He repeated and then smiled. "The one you where wearing?"

"Yes."

"What about it?"

"It…it came off!"

"It did…when?"

"I don't know when!" She said her face now like a beetroot. "But when you left it wasn't, well it wasn't…it didn't fully cover me!"

"Oh." He said and then his eyes went wide. "Oh! That wasn't me!" He defended as he got up off the bed. "I mean I didn't even notice, well maybe a little…" He paused and winced as if he didn't mean to say the last few words before he looked at her again. "You where dying!"

As he spoke she could feel herself starting to blush even more and she pulled the duvet back up over her face. "Oh dear gods." She whispered wanting to hide forever.

As soon as she was back under the covers however he was back on the bed and pulling them down from her face.

"You're embarrassed." He stated.

"Well yeah, I was practically naked!"

"Yes, but Ari you where dying." As he looked at her she was the fear back in his eyes and she realised that she should have known that he wouldn't have cared about her state of dress while she was in mortal danger, his only thought would have been to save her.

Reaching out to his she touched his face with one hand while the other got a grip on his shirt and she pulled him down to her, her lips finding his. As she kissed him she felt him hesitate a moment before his hand was in her hair and he was kissing her back.

.*.*.*.

The Doctor was shocked when she pulled him down to her. But as she kissed him he soon just kissed her back letting his body take control of the situation.

But as he felt her body heat up and her heartbeat increase, beating hard against his chest his mind started to take over again.

He had to stop doing this; he had to keep his distance though as time went on he was finding it harder and harder to resist her. And then she had nearly gone and died, again, and he had given up more of his life to save her, and now as she kissed him he could feel how much she wanted him and he knew that this in the end it was all his fault.

That first small kiss in the hotel room was an impulse; it was a need for comfort and a need for a touch that wasn't pain. It had been easy after that not to seek that comfort again, until he had his breakdown, and then there was a few weeks ago when he thought she was lost forever. That kiss had been totally different to the others, that kiss had been because he had wanted her and if he hadn't of stopped it then he knew it would have gone further, just like this kiss.

If he didn't stop it now then he wouldn't later.

With great reluctance and a grown of frustration at himself he pulled away from her. As she moaned at him for stopping her hands tried to pull him back to her, but he gently took hold of her wrists and placed them above her head. When she opened her blue eyes he very nearly gave in again but he forced himself to hold back.

"Ari, we have to stop this." He said his eyes never leaving hers.

"Why?" She asked as she shifted under him and he was so thankful of the duvet that was in-between them.

"I don't mean just now." He went on and saw as her eyes darkened and he knew he was about to hurt her.

"What do you mean?" She said frowning.

"I mean…Ari, I'm a Time Lord."

"Yes I know that."

"I live a lot longer than you ever will." He watched as his words sank into her and then she was pulling her wrists free and sitting up.

Moving he let her get up and he moved to sit on the edge of the bed his hand running through his hair as she stood and pulled on a fluffy white dressing gown.

"You're protecting yourself." She stated turning to face him. "I get that." She then knelt before him and took hold of his hands and as he looked at her taking in her blue eyes, her pale skin and her black hair, all he wanted to do was push a strand of her hair behind her ear so that it didn't cover her face. "But Doctor, you can not deny yourself forever."

"Yes I can." He saw those words hit her hard and he wished he could take them back but he couldn't so he remained quiet.

"Okay." She said dropping his hands and standing. "I guess you should leave then." He watched her walk over to the blue sofa she had in her room, the one the TARDIS had put there so he could read as she slept.

Standing he looked at the door before looking at her a moment noting that she wouldn't even look at him. Taking a deep breath he walked to the door and was about to let himself out when she spoke.

"I'm sure that this is the wrong decision and I'm sure I should get you to take me back home." Her voice was quiet and the pain behind her words hit him hard. "But this is my home." She continued. "Any you have become my family." He turned to look at her and for the first time he saw the tears that ran down her face and he hated himself for putting them there. "I'm not going anywhere." She finally said as she looked at him. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

They just stared at each other for a moment before she boke contact and spoke again.

"Just give me a few days; after all nearly dying is enough to wear anyone out." He nodded slightly knowing that she was fine after her near death experience, the regen energy he had given her would have fixed everything, but he knew she was now protecting herself with a lie and he could understand that. So turning back to the door he opened it and let his feet lead him to the console room.


End file.
